Title: Clearing the Path for Low-Income Students to Achieve College Success
In 2004, I embarked on a journey to graduate from college. My family and teachers encouraged me to aim high, to test my abilities, and to reach for the proverbial stars. In their eyes, I could accomplish anything despite the reality that a low-income child in our country has an 8% chance of finishing a college degree.
By 2011, I had obtained three credentials: a Bachelor’s degree from American University, a Masters from Columbia University’s Teachers College, and a second Masters from the University of Cambridge. I largely attribute my college successes to the ongoing reminders from family, teachers, mentors, and college advisors to ‘think big’ – and, perhaps equally important, I benefited greatly from the financial assistance provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coca-Cola Foundation.
Drawing on personal and professional experiences, I am now committed to helping many more low-income students earn postsecondary credentials—especially given that a college education is needed more today than at any time in our nation’s history.
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Yet, students from low-income communities are not getting the full range of support needed to enroll, persist, and graduate from college. As a result, low-income children have an 8% chance of finishing a college degree by their mid-20s –compared to 77% of individuals from high-income families. This college aspiration-attainment gap has little to do with low-income students not aspiring for college. In fact, a 2011 study by the College Board found that low-income students have similar or higher college-going aspirations than their more affluent peers. This gap is more a result of systemic and persistent roadblocks many low-income students face on the path to and through
In the essay "The Danger of Telling Poor Kids That College Is the Key to Social Mobility" written by Andrew Simmons, he states that poor and wealthy college students should both be "sold" the same motivational idea. His idea is that rather than poor people focusing of making money, they should focus on an intellectual awakening similar to what wealthier students are able to focus on. Although Simmons raises a strong argument, I do not believe it is effective when trying to motivate poor students such as the black and Latino kids that live in Inglewood and West Adams in Los Angeles. Throughout my essay I will discuss why poor students and wealthy students motivational factors differ greatly.
Success. Society tends to correlate “success” with the obtainment of a higher education. But what leads to a higher education? What many are reluctant to admit is that the American dream has fallen. Class division has become nearly impossible to repair. From educations such as Stanford, Harvard, and UCLA to vocational, adult programs, and community, pertaining to one education solely relies on one’s social class. Social class surreptitiously defines your “success”, the hidden curriculum of what your socioeconomic education teaches you to stay with in that social class.
Long ago, receiving education was once something only the rich could afford; it was a luxury. Nowadays it is open to everyone, but many students enter college only to discover that they are underprepared, and in turn they become disenchanted. David Leonhardt’s article, The College Dropout Boom, addresses the issues that are apparent in the education system and how it contributes to the gap between the upper and lower class while Access to Attainment by Abby Miller, Katherine Valle, Jennifer Engle, and Michelle Cooper calls to improve access to college education for today’s students. This is incredibly important because many students either drop out or never attended college and in today’s time, having a Bachelor’s degree has become a requirement
However, my dedication to my education and my diverse experiences in my youth are what have allowed me to overcome systematic barriers and get accepted to UCLA. The world I come from has not only propelled me get to college, but has shaped my understanding of the inequities and injustices of America’s educational system. I realize how socioeconomic status can hinder the capabilities of people because knowledge, opportunities, support, resources, and guidance are not always available to those who come from underserved communities.
Having the college experience is everyone’s dream, especially High School students who are ready to get out into the world and explore. College is very important for furthering someone’s career, but no one thinks about all the costs and the stress that comes along with college. Tuition fees and costs are increasing more and more each year. Now days it feels like you have to be a millionaire just to attend a good college and get a good degree in what you were attending for. There are some students that do not have a lot of money and live on very little things with their parents, but indeed are very smart and have a 4.0 GPA. Those students are the ones that are unable to attend college if they cannot afford it. College tuition is too expensive,
Morosely, people hitting poverty level are truly given zero opportunities to advance their education. In America, it 's not common that the A+ education is given to you. It 's not entirely easy to land the greatest job ever with just a high school diploma. But, the cost of college has made the difference between having a job that pays well, and having a job that pays immensely for people living in poverty. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. The cost of living per month for a single, childless person in America is $2,372. Galbraith stresses importance of improving housing across the nation.(Galbraith 405) With unemployment rates remaining high, jobs are hard to find in the current economy. Even if people can find work, this does not automatically provide an escape from
But what’s more important? Saving money orapplying to college? So here we ask ourselves on more time, is college worth it? Of course, it is.The more colleges you apply for, the better. Expanding your college options are better thanlimiting yourself with a budget.The cost of tests and applications may be high, but that is nothing compared to how muchcollege really costs. In college, you’re not just paying for the opportunity to learn. You arepaying for books, to rooming, to the grass you step on, and to the air you breathe. A student withno subsidizing means to pay for college can find themselves amidst a nightmare when findingout how much college costs. The cost is so high that an “average of $29,400” (Webber 2) isexpected for a single student’s loans. College tuition, is not lenient, and you know it’s bad whenalmost former president Barack Obama mentioned and “criticized the rising rate of collegetuition” (Gutmann 136). The average cost of college can “range from $3,000 to more than$32,000” (How Much Will College Cost Me? 1). And for low-income students? The statisticssay that “only 52 percent of low-income students enrolled in a…college immediately upongraduating” (Elliot 26). The game is not in the favor of low-income students. In fact, collegecosts plus lack of monetary. See, they need jobs to pay for college, but without college, thechances at a good paying job are slim. And so, some never see the end of
Low income students are generally found in low income communities which have fewer resources to devote to their schools. With inadequate funds and resources, these kids are not getting the equal opportunity in education as kids in high income communities. Kids...
For this reason, it is essential to eliminate funding inequalities; all students deserve a high quality education, especially in the low-income areas. Providing more money to these areas can reduce crime and gang activity, lower the teen birth rate, restore self-confidence, provide these students with the opportunity to attend college, and also break the cycle of poverty. The “Race to the Top Program” is a start, but more needs to be done at the local and state level. Works Cited Johnson, Frank.
According to Mortenson (2007), graduation rates for students from low-income families increased doubled from 1970 to 2005. However, during the same time period students from a high-income background saw rates of graduation increase from 40 percent to 73 percent. So, even though graduation rates increased for low-income students, graduation rates had a significantly higher rate among high-income
Unfortunately for impoverished and minority students, this is where they fall short. According to Brookings.edu, Schools based in communities primarily composed of low-income and minority students have fewer necessary instructional resources. Students in these communities and social class tend to lack such materials as books, core curriculum, computers, and even quality teachers. Teachers working in schools servicing low-income and minority students are usually inexperienced or underqualified. In addition to this, these teachers are required to teach significantly larger class sizes. Many of these schools don’t even offer the necessary math and science classes needed to advance to college (Hammond). Completing college is also a challenge for individuals who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Just as in grammar schools and high schools, the quality of education within colleges need to improve. Relying on one’s own knowledge is the key in receiving upward mobility because of the financial obstacles associated with attending a University. The article “Economic Inequality and Higher Education”
In the past decade, many college students have fallen into poverty. There’s a lot of issues that go beyond this topic, many people wouldn’t think College students could end up in poverty. Because, either those college students get scholarships or financial aid but, none of those could support a college student. I believe that there could be a more possible way for a college student to survive the college life and earn the degree they desire.
In the United States, 69.2% of high graduates go on to attend college the next fall semester, a number that is on the rise since the fall of 2000. While this all seems very positive, there is a greater issue going unnoticed beneath these statistics. How many of the students attending college are lower-income students who have always been attending any higher, education than their higher income counterparts? Are we as a society and government doing enough to allow and encourage students to pursue a higher education? While society continues to our more emphasis on the importance of college many low-income students still lag behind their high-income counterparts.
Children from less well-off families are at greater risk than wealthier children for poor cognitive, behavioral and health outcomes. If these associations between children's outcomes and the economic status of their families reflect causal relationships—so that the poorer outcomes of less wealthy children can be attributed to their low incomes—they have implications for the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Children who have worse cognitive, behavioral and health outcomes may be more likely to obtain less education and have lower earnings as adults, and to go on to rear their children in poorer environments. This line of reasoning suggests that policies and programs that improve outcomes for low-income children may break—or at least
Currently, relatively few urban poor students go past the ninth grade. The graduation rates in large comprehensive inner-city schools are abysmally low. In fourteen such New York City Schools, for example, only 10 percent to 20 percent of ninth graders in 1996 graduated four years later. Despite the fact that low-income individuals desperately need a college degree to find decent employment, only 7 percent obtain a bachelors degree by age twenty-six. So, in relation to ...